Cavaliers outlast Clippers 127-122 to notch 60th win

BY TIM SHIRER

CAVALIERS BEAT WRITER

(CLEVELAND, OH) - The Cleveland Cavaliers (60-15, 32-5 home) returned home on Sunday afternoon to take on the Los Angeles Clippers (42-32, 17-21 road). The Cavs coming off a loss to the Detroit Pistons on Friday night 133-122 in Detroit. The Clipper had won two straight and eight of their last ten. The Cavs played a more aggressive style on Sunday afternoon and came out with the 127-122 win.

After Evan Mobley started the game with a three-point basket the Cavaliers missed their next six shots and fell behind 6-3 with 9:40 remaining. With 8:24 left Mobley was fouled, he hit both free throws and the Clippers lead was cut to one point at 8-7. Then with 8:05 left on the clock Donovan Mitchell hit Max Strus and Strus slammed the ball home giving the Cavs a 9-8 lead. The Cavs took a 13-8 lead with 7:02 left when Jarrett Allen was fouled and converted both free throws. With 3:23 left in the quarter the Cavs took a 24-17 lead after Sam Merrill stole the ball and drained a three at the other end. Then just 19 second later after a Clippers miss Mitchell drove the lane and gave the Cavs a 26-17 lead. When the first quarter ended the Cavs, lead had grown to 12 at 37-25 and was as much as 17 at one point in the quarter. The Clippers James Harden led all scorers with eight first quarter points. Mitchell led the Cavs with seven. The Clippers shot 48% (13 of 27) from the field while the Cavs shot 41% (9 of 22).

Early in the third the Clippers made a run, cutting the Cavs lead to 46-41 with 6:59 left on the clock when Norman Powell drained a three. With 4:37 left in the second quarter after a turnover Strus was fouled at the other end. He hit one of two free throws giving the Cavs a 58-47 lead. After some good defense, the Cavs got the ball back and Strus hit Allen under the basket, giving the Cavs a 6-47 lead with 4:08 left. The Clippers retaliated and scored the next six points cutting the Cavs lead to 60-53 with 3:31 remaining in the half. Cavs bench boss Kenny Atkinson called an immediate timeout. Then with 2:43 left the Cavs lead was down to 60-55 when Derrick Jones, Jr. scored in the paint on a pass from Harden. When time ran out in the first half the Cavs took a 68-64 lead into the locker room. Powell led all scorers with 22 points. Allen paced the Cavs with 14. Both teams shot well in the first half. The Clippers shot 51% (26 of 51) while the Cavs shot 50% (22 of 44) from the field. Both teams shot 37% from the field, the Clippers were 10 of 27 while the Cavs were 7 of 19. A big key to the Cavs leading at halftime was turnovers. The Cavs turned the ball over only two times and the Clippers could not convert either into points. In the first meeting L.A. the Cavs turned the ball over nine times resulting in 14 Clippers points.

The Cavs lead was cut to 68-67 with just :13 second into the half when Powell scored and was fouled. After the Clippers closed to within one again at 75-74 the Cavs scored six straight points to take an 82-74 lead with 8:00 left when Darius Garland hit Mobley in the paint. Mobley drained the shot and was fouled and made the free throw. With 5:54 left in the third Mobley drained a three from the top of the arc. With 3:25 left in the third and the Cavs up 94-80, the Cavs had possession, and the ball was knocked out of bounds. The Cavs were awarded the ball. Former Cavs coach, now the Clippers head man Ty Lue challenged the call and was successful. The quarter ended with the Cavs having momentum as Mitchell drained a three with :03.1 left on the clock giving the Cavs a 105-88 lead. Powell was still leading everyone in scoring at the end of three with 27 points. Mobley was pacing the Cavs with 22, Allen was a close second with 21 points. Allen had already notched his 39th double double of the season and his 228th of his career.

The Clippers were not going away and in the first 2:35 of the fourth quarter outscored the Cavs 8-3 to cut the Cavs lead to 12 points as Atkinson called a timeout as he had seen enough. With 8:09 left in the game Isaac Okoro who had only played eight minutes to that point drained a three to give the Cavs a 114-98 lead. The Clippers came right back and cut the Cavs lead to 114-105 with 6:37 left when Powell drained a three. Then with 5:10 left the Cavs lead was down to eight points when Kris Dunn drained a three. With :56 the Cavs were up 124-117 and Strus turned the ball over. Fortunately for the Cavs Powell lost the ball at the other end, Mitchell recovered it and called a timeout with :50.1 left on the clock. After the timeout, the Cavs immediately turned the ball over and the Clippers cut the Cavs lead to 124-120 with :29.2 left on the game clock. Dunn then fouled Garland with :23.4 left. The foul was Dunn’s sixth. Garland made one of two free throws, and the Cavs led 125-120. The Clippers took a timeout. With :19.0 left De’Andre Hunter fouled Harden he hit both and the Cavs lead was 125-122. After the Cavs took a timeout and :13.5 on the clock Garland was fouled, he hit both free throws and gave the Cavs a 127-122 lead. After the two free throws Harden made a bad pass that Mitchell stole, and the Cavs ran the clock out for their 60th win of the campaign.

Allen led the Cavs with 25 points, Mitchell tallied 24 and Mobley scored 22. Allen and Mitchell each had 12 rebounds. It was Mitchell’s 6th double of the season and 24th of his career. The 12 boards were one shy of his season & career high of 13. Powell led the Clippers with 34 points in the losing effort.

The Clippers shot 51% (47 of 93) in the game while the Cavs shot 48% (45 of 93) from the field. The Cavs shot 39% (16 of 41) from three-point range, while the Clippers shot 33% (15 of 45). The Cavs turned the ball over 10 times resulting in 11 Clippers points, while the Clippers turned it 14 times resulting in 15 Cavaliers points. The Cavs just edged out L.A. on the boards 45-44.

The Cavs will now get some much needed rest as they are off until Wednesday when they take on the New York Knicks (46-27, 22-15 road) game time is 7 pm at Rocket Arena. This will be the third matchup between the two clubs, the Cavs have taken the first two meetings this season. Fact about the all-time series between the Knicks and Cavs. The Knicks won the first 20 games in the series from 1970 to 1974. On March 24. 1974 the Cavs beat the Knicks for the first time, 114-92 and have the edge 107-101 since.